Worked at various times as a high school teacher, piano teacher, taxi driver, editorial assistant for business publications, airline customer service agent, résumé writer, bass guitar/keyboard/trumpet player, music retail clerk, applications & programming trainer, and (currently) IT service desk analyst.

Born in Stillwater, Oklahoma, 13 November 1962, to David B. Collins and Sue Hendricks Collins (Now Sue Olstad). Father of one son, Paxton Collins, a student at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches.

Running for: United States Senate

Covers: one of two US Senate seats representing the entire state of Texas

Stance/Policy:
The following represents only a portion of this campaign’s policy list. It is a statement of policy priorities and goals, and is intentionally light on the details of how to attain those goals.

Build the post–fossil fuel economy and put millions of Americans in living-wage jobs through candidate Jill Stein’s Green New Deal.

Take action to reverse the buildup of atmospheric CO2 and other greenhouse gases, and prepare the nation to face the effects of climate change already occurring.

Get corporate and military polluters to clean up the messes they make and to bear the costs of medical care for those affected by their pollution.

Institute public financing of electoral campaigns, and a Constitutional amendment stating that corporations are not people and money is not speech, to keep corporations and extremely wealthy individuals from buying elections.

Base foreign policy on international cooperation with all nations negotiating as equals, and on what will best help the people of those nations as well as the planet.

Eliminate double standards on immigration policy, help develop the economies of Latin America to meet the needs of their people’s survival so they don’t feel compelled to migrate to the US, and provide a path to citizenship for immigrants already in the US.

Get US military and paramilitary forces out of countries where local populations neither need nor want them.

Establish some form of single-payer national health care plan, guaranteeing no more personal bankruptcies due to medical costs.

Stop treating women’s health as a back-burner issue, and empower women to make the most appropriate choices for themselves on when and how to have children.

Protect the human and civil rights of all US residents, irrespective of ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, religion or lack thereof, physical or mental disability.

Modify the content and goals of public education, de-emphasizing standardized tests, preparing students to meet the challenges of the 21st century, and shaping our young people into citizens of a multi-cultural world.

Make public post-secondary education available free in every state, whether for a traditional four-year academic degree, IT and skilled trade certifications, or domestic skills ranging from child care to managing personal finances.

Completely legalize the growing and distribution of industrial hemp; legalize, tax, and regulate medical and recreational cannabis; get people convicted of simple drug possession out of correctional institutions and into productive jobs; investigate the decriminalization of other street drugs, with humane, medically supervised distribution networks for addicts.

Main Opponents:
As of now, the Democratic and Republican Parties each have two candidates in runoffs for their US Senate nominations. The runoffs are scheduled for 31 July, with early voting available in the large metropolitan counties.
On the Democratic side, former state Representative Paul Sadler faces retired schoolteacher Grady Yarbrough. The Republicans will choose between former state Solicitor General Ted Cruz and current Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst.
The Libertarian Party has nominated John Jay Myers.